By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Lumbini Province secures a comfortable victory of 6 wickets with 204 balls remaining over Province 1 in an ongoing Wai Wai U19 National Cricket Tournament.

Province 1’s Inning
With Lumbini’s spinner Nirmal Gurung marking his maiden 5-wicket haul, Durgesh Gupta claiming 2 wickets, and Avishek Gautam & Tul Bahadur Thapa booking apiece, Province 1 collapsed in 26.2 overs with 69 runs in the pocket.
Nirmal Gurung bowled Province 1’s key batter, Sonu Ansari, in the second ball of the inning. Province 1’s opener Suvan Gahatraj and then middle order Estain Rijal contributed 22 and 19 runs to the tally. However, other batsmen returned to the dugout with single-digit runs.
Dipesh Kandel (5), Faijal Rahaman (0), Bhupal Dangol (5), Abhinaya Rajbanshi (1), Aswin Mahato (0), Bipin Mahato* (7), Sandesh Bhattarai (0) and Ashish Magar scored 2 runs.
Lumbini’s Inning
The horrific performance from Lumbini’s batter also continued in today’s match. However, the tiny target saved their day. With opener duo Aakash Tripathi and Dev Khanal returning to the dugout for 17 and 19 runs, Skipper Bishal Bikram KC left the crease following a duck out.
Prajjwol Thapa then scored 15 runs off 11 deliveries including 2 four before leaving the crease in 14.3 overs. Sunil Bhandari and Vishal Bhusal collected 6 and 8 runs to win Lumbni the match in just 16 overs.
Dipesh Kandel, skipper of Province 1 claimed 3 wickets whereas Bipin Mahato booked apiece.
With a win, Lumbini moves a step closer to the finals of the tournament. If Bagmati Province loses to Sudurpaschim on Friday, Lumbini must defeat Madesh Province on Saturday to set a showdown with Sudurpaschim in the final on Monday.